Personal Statement - Financial Mathematics or Mathematics with Teaching

Financial Mathematics or Mathematics with Teaching or Business with Computing Personal Statement

Having thoroughly enjoyed studying the courses of Mathematics, Business Studies throughout GCSE and A level, and Computing in A level, I have decided that I would like to combine them in a degree to study in more depth at university.

Achieving a B in GCSE business, and an A in one of my AS modules has confirmed my interest in this subject. After not having the opportunity to study computing at GCSE level, I took the subject at A level and quickly rose to one of the top in the class. The other subject that I specialise in is Mathematics. I have always enjoyed manipulating different equations to see relationships between them, and also enjoy finding quicker and easier ways of doing things compared to the techniques taught in class.

I believe I would be best suited to any course combining two of my three A-Levels as all three are closely related to each other. The Courses I plan to apply for are Financial Mathematics, Mathematics with qualified teacher status, or a business course with computing. After completing my course, I plan to do an extra year to gain qualified teacher status in my chosen field. Being a teacher really appeals to me because I have always enjoyed learning, and I know it would be extremely rewarding to be able to pass the enjoyment of learning onto the future generation.

Working part-time as a Customer Service assistant has given me the opportunity to develop my confidence and problem solving skills. After just 3 months of working in the food retailer company, Waitrose, I was promoted from shop assistant to customer service. During the working day I am often faced with a variety of problems which it is my responsibility to solve. Communication is a primary skill needed when working on the customer service desk as you need to deal with telephone calls and queries from both inside and outside the company. Working in the customer service section helps me develop my computer skills as I often have to use the tills. Outside school I enjoy listening to and playing music. The instruments I play include Piano, Saxophone, Classical Guitar, and also Violin. Until I started working, I used to play in the school band, and at the Saturday music school in the String orchestra. Playing as a group in the band and orchestra helped develop my ability to work in a team as well as on my own

I have also helped out in many school activities including helping out in the lower school maths classes and guiding during the school's open evenings. I also really take pleasure in experimenting with, and programming computers. I have a wide knowledge of computer hardware, software, networks and general trouble-shooting. I really enjoy building my own programs to widen my knowledge, and enjoy teaching myself languages such as Java and Visual Basic.

I am also part of the local Air Cadet force. Being a cadet has given me opportunities to show how well I can cope with responsibility. For example, on night exercises, I would often lead a group of about 5 to navigate through certain scenarios and to complete training missions. I also took part in the Wing Athletics which allowed me to interact with other people and helped improve my techniques at both high jump and long jump.

After university, my long term aims are to get a job where I work closely with a particular company and have an influence over their decisions. Having a Mathematics degree would help with the financial sector of a business, and having a Computing degree would help with sectors such as e-commerce, both of which I am very interested in. I greatly look forward to continue in widening my knowledge and gaining a combined degree in 2 of my three subjects, and to continue on to a rewarding career in teaching.